Sandy Lake pool opens after repairs

Judge ordered weekend closing because of concerns over safety

Donna Logan Wisdom and Linda Stewart Ball – Staff Writers - Tuesday May 27, 1997

Carrollton – After a two-day delay marked by court orders and last-minute repairs, state inspectors allowed the pool at Sandy Lake Amusement Park to open for the season, a year after a Coppell boy nearly drowned there. About 400 swimmers, many unaware of the safety violations but curious about barricaded slides, sought refuge from the 93-degree heat in the million-gallon pool that a Dallas County judge closed Saturday and Sunday. The two slides, in the opposing shallow ends of the large pool, have been closed until they can be removed, pool manager Tom Self said. Mr. Self said Texas Department of Health Inspectors told him to close the slides because they are too steep for the drop into only 3 feet of water.

Although she knew it had been shut down during the weekend, Kristen Adames of Carrollton was at the pool Monday with her husband, two children and other family members. She said that she felt safe swimming there and that her family has visited the pool there three to four time a season for about seven years. “This place has been here for so long,” Ms. Adames said. “I’m really glad they opened it up.” Connie Berry of Lake Dallas said she has brought carloads of kids to the pool for at least 10 years. She said they would continue their tradition. “We stay here from open to close,” Ms. Berry said. “I like the space, and the lifeguards are always attentive.” The attorney for the family of the injured boy said he still has concerns.

“The operative question is, ‘Would I send my child or my client’s child there?’ No, I would not allow them to go to this pool,” said Tom Shaw, attorney for Carolyn Chittenden, whose son Sean, 11, was severely injured last year when his arm became trapped in an underwater pool drain. The boy was under water three to five minutes, Mr. Shaw said, and suffered brain damage. He has undergone two operations to repair his arm and more surgery is needed, Mr. Shaw said. He called Sandy Lake “a shoddy operation. They have technically complied with the requirements, but they do not have a certified pool operator out there,” he said. “What in God’s name took them over a year to do this?” Mr. Shaw said that though Sandy Lake has a safe facility for now, he said he and his client want assurances that it will remain safe through proper operation and regular inspections.

Mr. Self, a co-owner of the park with other family members who live on the property, said he welcomed the inspections. He said he wants guests to know that the pool is safe. “If there’s something wrong, we want someone to tell us,” Mr. Self said. “We can’t operate a facility and not care about the kids.” Family owned and operated for 27 years, the park is filled on most weekdays with large groups of children from day-care facilities and the YMCA, he said. “They were all waiting to get in,” Mr. Self said of the pool’s opening Monday morning. “Most of these people have swam here for years and years.” The Chittenden family filed its first suit in January, naming the city of Carrolton and Antonio Romo, the city’s Environmental Health Department director, as defendants. On Friday, Sandy Lake Amusement Park Inc. was added as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“They seemed more interested in opening the pool than making sure it’s safe,” Mr. Shaw said. He said the delay was simply to allow more time to learn about the operation. He added that park owners were sent a letter 70 days ago requesting that they bring everything up to state and local code. “We’ve been busy trying to show the court that we’ve spent thousands of dollars trying to get this 50-year-old pool into shape,” Sandy Lake attorney Peter Martin said Saturday after the pool failed the first round of inspections by the Texas Department of Health. “The fact is they’re not finding many problems; they’re finding some pretty minor ones in our opinion.” Mr. Self said that three violations cited in Sunday’s inspection included an improper intake pipe and drain cover and the failure to properly monitor chlorine levels. Other state-ordered repairs, including construction of a solid barrier between the shallow ends of the pool and the deeper water between them, will be done at the end of this season, Mr. Self said.

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